at least the official went up to them before he signed his scorecard and said there might be a problem... that way he didn't get DQ'd and lost his prize $$ too.

At least for me growing up playing tournaments, one of the things that our golf coach said to us.... if there's anything even remotely questionable, ask an official, regardless.

I also agree that knowing how wet or loose the sand is, is a huge advantage, knowing whether or not you can blast the ball out of it or not. Even setting a rake inside the trap would get you in trouble (for testing the sand).... which is why the rakes should be set just outside of and not in a trap.

That bunker routine is ok when you're in a greenside bunker. You don't to do that in a fairway bunker. If you have a decent lie in a fairway bunker, you would not want to open your stance and you would not want to open the club face. You would not want to hit down on the ball either. You'd want to play the shot just like you would play a shot from the fairway and you would want to make sure that you hit the ball first (unlike a greenside bunker where you would hit well behind the ball).